Personal Trainer Mark Anthony knows a thing or two about getting in shape. His fitness plans have been tried and tested by global A-list celebrities and thousands of clients in his London gym.
Mark also ran the Zest Solero bikini bootcamp recently.
Try his 10 tips to burn fat and get you bikini-ready this summer - and find out what works for celebrities like Katie Price, Billie Piper and even JLS...
1. REORGANISE:
Do your cardiovascular after your weight training or toning exercises to help you burn fat dramatically. The cardio work must be sustained for 20-30 minutes and at a comfortable pace. Perform four lots of strength work per week followed by your cardio, and expect an impressive body change in just six weeks. This method has worked for hundreds of my clients including Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright.
2. SYSTEMISE:
We have three energy systems:
- Power (creatine)
- Food (glycogen)
- Fat
By performing strength training first, within 10 seconds we burn through our first energy system. The second energy system can take up to 25 minutes to burn through, so high intensity resistance training with short rest periods in between sets and reps ensures this happens. At that point, doing cardiovascular activity such as walking on an incline eats away at our body fat. Oritsé Williams from JLS is a big fan of this method.
3. PRIORITISE:
If there is a certain part of your body that you want to change the most, prioritise this by exercising it first in your work out schedule. This is because all your energy will go to the first few exercises. When I trained Katie Price she wanted to focus on conditioning her legs and glute, and by focusing on this area first we were able to make a difference.
4. BURN:
The amount of calories you will burn on a treadmill in an hour is between 300-450; this might not seem a lot but the body continuously burns calories after the burn for up to 24 hours. Depending on how long and hard you have exercised it takes between 15 minutes and up to 48 hours for your body to return to normal. During post exercise, your body burns between 10 to 15 calories for every 100 calories that you burnt during your workout.
5. TIME:
Invest your exercise time wisely and you'll reap the benefits. If you have half an hour, do power walking, if you have 20 minutes go for a run, if you have 10 minutes do circuit training and if you have three minutes follow my Solero 90 Calorie Workout.
6. WALK:
If you find exercising difficult to do, by just doing 20 minutes of walking per day Monday to Friday with no change in your diet you will work off 14 pounds of fat in a year. This is the easiest form of exercise to fit into your busy daily schedule - so change into your trainers, pop your heels into your bag and walk to work!
7. FIRM:
You can achieve a pert 'Pippa' bottom by making a few adjustments to your daily routine. When you're walking to work, take long strides, squeeze your glutes and keep your abs tight and firm. When you're sitting behind a desk, throw your shoulders back and keep your abs lovely and tight. If you can try and keep to this posture when you eventually stand up you engage your glutes every single time. So technically, you're firing up the muscles in your bum every time you stand up at work!
8. DRINK:
Consuming at least two litres of water a day will help you flush out the excess water retention that your body is holding. So take the same advice I gave Billie Piper: the more you drink, the more you lose, the less you drink, the more you hold.
9. EAT:
Smart eating is key to maintaining your energy levels. Make sure that you are eating small regular meals throughout each day and never miss breakfast. Reduce the amount of salt in your diet and try to limit alcohol to weekends. Always include a light snack in between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. Eating a balanced diet was key to helping Billie Piper maintain her fantastic figure.
10. TREAT:
Don't be afraid to reward your hard work occasionally with a treat - there are only 90 calories in a delicious Solero Explosion, so you can indulge without the guilt.
