If you find yourself held hostage in your home by inclement weather, kids that need constant supervision or a case of the working from home, you can still squeeze some exercise into your day.

Warm-Up: Cat/Cow Stretch

• To open up the muscles in your lower back, get down on your hands and knees, wrists in line with your shoulders and knees directly underneath your hips.
• Inhale as you lift the crown of your head and tailbone toward the ceiling and push your heart ahead of you.
• Hold for a few seconds, then release while exhaling, slowly moving the crown of your head toward the floor while lowering your hips toward the floor in tandem, rounding up your shoulder blades toward the ceiling. Reverse positions and repeat five times.

Warm-Up: Downward Dog Pedal Stretch

• Assume the downward dog position by placing your feet shoulder-width apart and bending at the waist to place your hands in line with your feet on the floor, forming your body into an upside-down V.
• Raise your heels off the ground and bend one knee in at a 90-degree angle toward the floor.
• Resume the V position to rest a beat and repeat with the other leg.
• Repeat on both sides twice more.

This helps release tension in the calves and hamstrings.

Workout 1:

Burpee/Plyometric Workout

These intervals are 45 seconds of high-intensity activity followed by a 15-second rest period. For this particular indoor workout, we recommend alternating between 45 seconds of burpees and 45 seconds of plyometric jumps for 10 minutes.

Burpees

• Begin in a squat position with your weight on your heels.
• Place your hands on the ground shoulder-width apart and thrust your legs straight back into a plank. This activates your abs, shoulders and triceps.
• Frog-jump your legs forward and spring straight up toward the ceiling, landing in a squat position for one complete rep. This works your core, thigh and calf muscles.
• To give your chest muscles a little added burn, lower your chest all the way to the floor before pushing up into the squat position.

Plyometric Jumps With 180-Degree Rotations

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Bend your knees and sit back as you swing your arms back for momentum.
• Swing your arms overhead as you jump as high as you can into the air, turning over your right shoulder.
• Twist your body around, making a 180-degree turn in midair so you land facing the opposite wall.
• Reverse direction.
• Once you are back facing the same direction, turn over your other shoulder.

Workout 2:

Full-Body Blast Workout

Five rounds of this routine will give an efficient, full-body workout that’s well-suited to the great indoors and it takes 15 minutes max!

Man Makers

Man makers are squats and planks combined into a flow a challenging cardio drill that builds upper- and lower-body strength at the same time.

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Drop down into plank position.
• Bend one elbow and raise one arm to a 90-degree angle (as if you were holding a dumbbell) while supporting yourself with the other.
• Lower your hand back down and raise the other arm in the same way.
• Place your hand back down on the ground and jump forward, raising yourself into a squat with your hands in fists near your shoulders.
• Return to standing, raising your arms straight up above your head, hands still in fists.
• Repeat five times per round.

Laying With Alternating Toe Touches

• Lay down on your back.
• Lift your left leg and touch your toes with opposite hand
• Lift both legs and touch your toes with both hands
• Lift right leg and touch your toes with opposite hand
• Do this move again with the left leg and continue to alternate.
• Doing 10 reps on each side per round will actively engage your arms, shoulders, chest, core and legs.

Single-Leg Hip Raises

• Lie flat on your back.
• Place your arms at your sides with the palms down.
• Bend both knees with your feet flat on the ground.
• Bend your left knee into your chest and flex your right foot.
• Raise your hips off the ground by pushing through your right heel.
• Raise and lower your hips, hugging your knee in the whole time.

Side Forearm Bridge

This move is basically a side plank that uses your forearm for support instead of an extended arm a great way to work your obliques, abs and lats.

• Lie on your left side with your torso raised and supported by your left forearm, bent at the elbow.
• With your right arm either around your waist or extended to the ceiling, keep your feet and legs straight and stacked on top of each other.
• Raise your hips into a side forearm plank.
• Keeping your core tight, lower your hips so that they hover just about the ground.
• Continue lowering and raising for 10 reps on each side.

Cooldown: Spinal Roll-Ups

• Lie flat on the floor with your arms by your sides and your knees bent.
• Pressing through your feet, begin to lift your back off the floor, one vertebrae at a time.
• When you reach the top, hold for a beat and slowly lower back down to the start the same way, rolling your spine out along the floor.

Are you carrying an unwanted load around your belly?

Well don’t worry, you’re without any doubt not alone! To be honest you don’t necessarily need to spend a dime to tighten and tone those abdominals. However, all you really need to understand is a few things about the human body.

DID YOU KNOW: Male abs are considered fat if the waistline measures more than 40 inches, (it’s time to consider cutting down your consumption of certain foods).

 

1. Refined grains

These are ingredient found in foods like white rice, white bread, and regular white pasta. The unrefined stuff (whole wheat, brown rice and quinoa) is always healthier. Pennsylvania State University researchers found that people who ate whole grains in addition to keeping a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and protein, lost more weight from the abdominal area the group of people who kept the same healthy diet but ate all refined grains.

2. Potato products

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine followed the weight changes of more than 120,000 men and women for up to 20 years. The participants were checked every four years and, on average, they gained 3.35 pounds each time—so almost 17 pounds by the time the study was finished. The foods associated with the greatest weight gain? Our favorites potato chips and potatoes.

3. Red and processed meat

In another study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers worked with more than 370,000 people and found that folks who ate the equivalent of a small steak a day gained about five pounds in five years.

Learn to say no to these delicious delights

4. Frosting

The cake itself might not have trans fat, but chances are if the frosting isn’t made from scratch it will likely have trans fat in it. How bad can trans fat be you must be asking? Well one serving provides nearly a full day’s worth of trans fat, so you’d better be extra careful about all of the other food you eat that day.

5. Diet soda

It’s easy to get fooled by the zero-calorie label, yet sodas made with sugar substitutes are believed by many to play a role in weight gain. A new study published this month found that people who drank diet soda gained almost three times the amount of abdominal fat over nine years as those who didn’t drink the no-cal stuff.

Wake up with determination, go to sleep with satisfaction.

With Dubai’s chaotic and high stress work life, 24 hours 7 days a week long working hours and the constant demand to meet strict deadlines, a large percentage of the younger generation alongside the older generation too, is facing an uphill battle to stay fit and healthy. As government initiatives, fitness campaigns and sports group are actively raising awareness on the importance of a balanced lifestyle to stay fit, there has been a surge in the number of fitness centers and health clubs across Dubai.

Besides we all know exciting oneself to exercise is far from easy, and inevitably, we find legitimate reasons to be the couch potato, especially after a long and tiring day at work.

That said, I personally know that paying substantial sums of money for a gym membership can be a strong motivator, and once exercise naturally becomes part of your daily routine, it will probably become a habit you enjoy doing and won’t ever want to quit.

In keeping with UAE’s cultural sensitivities, many fitness centers have also introduced women’s only clubs and classes to encourage more women to start working out. Health experts in the UAE advise that women in this part of the world are often daunted by the prospect of working out in a mixed-gender gym.

Dubai has several gyms, fitness facilities and health clubs or varying sizes that offer a multitude of facilities for their members. From small local neighborhood gyms that focus on body building to large gym franchises such as Fitness First, that offer many classes, people living in the emirate are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting a health and wellness facility.

Fitness First

One of the most prominent fitness brands in the country, Fitness First has over 27 convenient locations across the UAE, with 19 locations in Dubai itself.

Joining fee?

If you opt to pay monthly for a 12-month package, there is an admin cost of Dhs299. If you pay up-front for packages, this is omitted.

Membership: 

Three tiers of packages, Plus, Platinum and Platinum Plus. Be aware that your selected membership will determine which clubs you can use. Corporate rates and off-peak rates are available.

Standard membership (Plus):

3 months: Dhs2,099 plus admin fee

6 months: Dhs3,149

12 months: Dhs4,199

18 months: Dhs5,249

Exercise classes?

Yes – all are included.

Extras:

If you sign up, new members are offered three free personal training and assessment sessions with a personal trainer to assess their current level of fitness and target goals within the gym.

Not only will you receive a gift for referring a friend to the gym but with several offers of promotions throughout the year with the chance to win many more gifts, including free training sessions. The Fitness First brand is also popular for the many fitness challenges and events that are organized throughout the year, giving members the added incentive and opportunity to get fit even outside the gym.

Fitness 360

With four clubs across Dubai, Fitness 360° is expanding and proving itself to be a contender in the big gym stakes. Owned by the Lal’s group, this fitness brand has plans to open up 10 new clubs across the UAE. Offering both mixed as well as ladies-only facilities, Fitness 360’s selling point is their holistic approach to getting healthy that extends beyond the time spent at the gym. They aim to provide affordable fitness options that suit the lifestyle and budget of common individuals and not just the elite. They offer some uniquely enticing classes including partner yoga and dancing in heels classes that aim to make fitness effective and fun.

Joining fee?

There is a standard Dhs99.

Membership:

Membership costs can vary from gym to gym. To use the ladies-only gym in J3 Mall (where there’s a boxing ring), plus the others, expect to pay a little more. Student discount is available. If you sign up in June, Fitness 360° is offering a special summer rate of Dhs199 a month for their gyms in Mazaya Centre, Arabian Centre and J3 Mall. And during Ramadan, membership is entirely complimentary with this offer.

Exercise classes?

Yes, and there have been some fairly unique choices, including dancing in heels and partner yoga.

Extras:

The gym regularly offers incentives like cheaper rates, free membership for a month and waives the joining fee.

Fitness Factory

“Great looking bodies and head-turning physiques don’t just happen. They are created, manufactured and made,”

Joining fee?

Only when opting for the one-month package.

Membership:

1 month: Dhs299 plus Dhs150 admin fee

3 months: Dhs750

6 months: Dhs1,400

12 months: Dhs2,500

Extras:

Both three and six-month memberships earn you two free personal training sessions, and if you sign up for a year, you receive an additional one on top of that.

TribeFit

TribeFit is all about ‘social fitness’ and encourages members to widen their social circle and keep in shape at the same time. Based on the principle that working out is a social activity, offering over 90 classes a week in yoga, spinning and physical fitness. The club itself is divided into eight funky gym facilities – burn lab, circuit city, build lab, melting pot, spin city, fight club, yoga studio and stretch area.

Joining fee?

Dhs199

Membership:

Monthly membership is Dhs399 based on a three- month commitment. A six-month upfront package is Dhs2,094 (equivalent of Dhs349  a month.) A 12-month upfront package is Dhs3,588 (equivalent of Dhs299 a month).

Exercise classes?

Tribefit runs over 90 classes a week including the whole range of Les Mills classes, yoga  and spinning.

Extras:

The social element of Tribefit makes it easy to meet new people, with beach days, nights out, movie screenings, and organised sports for members.

U Concept

An exclusive boutique gym, U Concept has art on its walls, a set of DJ decks and a UFC cage in the basement. 

Joining fee?

No.

Membership:

1 month: Dhs1,250

6 months: Dhs3,600

12 months: Dhs9,600 

Exercise classes?

Yes – all included, with spinning, martial arts  and boxing.

Extras:

U Concept offers a free mentor programme; an analysis session at the start of the membership, followed by monthly reviews and advice on training and nutrition.