Skin Health Magazine Issue #7 / Spring 2018 | Page 21

Diet & Fitness
Energy-Boosting Exercises to Get You Ready for the Day
Good morning! Now put on your trainers.
By making exercise part of your morning
routine, you’re starting the day with a rush of
feel-good endorphins (bye-bye stress!) and
there’s evidence that exercising before eating
breakfast increases fat oxidation. But what
we’re really looking for these days is more
energy. Good news — morning exercise also
increases oxygen and nutrient flow through
the body, which creates energy level boosts
that can last all day.
The NHS recommends at least 150 minutes
of moderate aerobic exercise a week, plus at
least twice-a-week strength exercises — which
breaks down to about 30 minutes per day.
Even if you want to save some moves for your
lunch break (especially important for desk
jobbers), make time for one of these:
Got five minutes? Try a strength and flexi-
bility routine from physiotherapist Nick Sin-
field. While still in bed, start with gentle
stretching — full body, knees to the chest,
legs to the chest, rolling knees side to side.
Then, sit up and scootch to the end of your
bed for trunk rotations and chest, back and
hamstring stretches. Finally, stand up, march
in place for 30 seconds, do ten slow squats,
then wrap up with side stretches and forward
bends. (Tip: The NHS website has super
helpful photos of each move.)
Got fifteen minutes? YouTube is packed with
tight, efficient workouts for all ability levels.
Overwhelmed by choice? Start with Joanna
Soh’s Beginner Fat Burning Morning Workout;
it’s low impact so, as she points out, you can
actually do it in your pyjamas. With squat
pulses, lunge touchdowns, several planks
moves, groiners and knee tucks, this routine
wakes up the whole body.
Got thirty minutes? Get outside! There’s no
time like the morning for a brisk walk or light
jog; the fresh air will invigorate your body
and soul. For strength training days, pause
every five minutes to do one of these for fifty
seconds: push-ups, walking lunges, tricep
dips (off the edge of a bench), jumping squats
and situps.
Whatever the duration, fit in a few minutes
of exercise each morning. Your energised body
will thank you all day long.
ISSUE #07 | 2018 | SkinHealthMagazine.com 21