Cross Training

Fit-flops. These specialist shoes incorporate ‘microwobbleboard technology’, which destabilizes you when you walk in theme. The idea is that Fit-Flops mimic the gait of barefoot walking, while increasing the load on lower-body stability muscles around your hips, plus your glutes (buttocks) and calves. Fit-Flops also claims to improve posture and muscle tone.

Functional Fitness. The program involves exercises that teach all the muscles to work together, rather than isolating them. For example, the bent-over row, done while leaning over a bench holding a weight in one hand,  builds lats (upper back), deltoids (shoulders), triceps (arms), and entire body, replicating everyday lifting situations.

Free weights. Weight-training involves resistance work that develops fatigue in the muscles you’re working. Using free weights like a barbell or dumbbells makes the body’s stability muscles work harder than with a multigym, making free-weight exercises far superior. Will help you build muscular strength and definition across the body, as well as protecting joints – and muscles burn more calories than fat, so it will help with weight loss.

Green gyms. This program is based around environmental and community projects, Green Gyms involve jobs such as clearing scrubland, tree planting, and path building. Great for both body and soul, they especially suit older exercisers looking to be more active.

Hypoxi trainer. The Hypoxi trainer is essentially an exercise bike in a pressure chamber. The claims are that as you pedal, the vacuum sucks blood into your lower regions, concentrating the breakdown of fat in your hips and thighs and reducing cellulite.