Fitness
How less stress and plenty of sleep can help you get in shape for sport.
It’s important to have a strong core, whatever your sporting ambitions.
Your form and balance in the gym rely on good stability; once you train up your core muscles you’ll be less likely to get injured and your workouts will be much more effective.
But if you want to carve out abs of steel, you’ll need to do more than just crunches. The secret is to couple healthy lifestyle habits – like staying hydrated and getting good quality sleep – with effective exercises.
Some of the tips below will help you perform pretty much all exercises better and more safely, especially compound movements such as back squats, pull-ups and deadlifts.
LIFESTYLE ADAPTATIONS
Calm down
Stress slows your recovery time after exercise, plus it has been shown to cause weight gain around the middle.
To manifest calm and serenity, overhaul your working and home environment, and give yoga, meditation and mindfulness techniques a go.
Check your diet
Is an abundance of heavy meats and white carbs bloating you, weighing you down and tiring you out? It’s time to take a good, hard look at your diet.
You can’t out-train bad eating habits, so check in with a PT or nutritionist to help swap in some healthier options.
You’ll want to be eating mainly unprocessed, plant-based foods with lots of micronutrients, fibre and protein. Try swapping out red meats for tofu and quinoa, bread and pasta for sweet potato and cheese for nuts and avocado. Keep well hydrated all day as well.
Take care of your gut
Excess caffeine, alcohol, junk food, sleep deprivation and stress can upset the microbiome in your gut, causing discomfort, IBS, digestive problems and bloating.
Foods and drinks containing naturally-occurring probiotics (good bacteria) and prebiotics (food for the good bacteria) can help. Try taking a probiotic pill, drinking kombucha and coconut kefir, and eating raw sauerkraut and walnut.
Sleep better
Getting a solid seven to eight hours of quality sleep a night are of prime importance to your energy levels the next day.
If you’re sleep deprived you’ll have high levels of the ‘hungry hormone’ grohlin so, as well as slacking off during your workout due to tiredness, you may crave unhealthy foods all day long.
Insomnia and lack of quality sleep has also been linked to increased waist size.
AND SOME GREAT EXERCISES
Work out in the morning
As your glycogen stores are less full first thing in the morning, working out well before midday will rev up your metabolism and help you to burn more calories throughout the day. Try 30-45 minutes outdoors or on a treadmill (incline for extra ab burn). It’s known as ‘fasted cardio’ and can make a big difference for blitzing body fat and shredding abs.
Planks
This should be anyone's ultimate go-to exercise. Holding a plank position will help tone and strengthen most muscles in your abs and back, as well as your shoulders and arms.
To perfect your form, do it in front of a mirror so you can make sure you are completely flat and in a straight line. Ensure your hips aren’t raised or dipped. Hold for 30 seconds and upwards, have a breather, then go again as many times as you can.
Russian twists
Activate your obliques by holding a medicine ball while you twist your core from side to side with your legs together and elevated. You should feel the burn in no time.
Crunches
Crunches are a basic but great ab-activating exercise. Implementing them can get you well on your way to toning up and strengthening your middle.
Once you find a set of 50 easy, move on to hanging from monkey bars by your knees (lock your feet under the next bar) and crunching upside down. Gravity will make sitting up more challenging and holding a weight by your chest will make it harder still.
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