“Travel is like an endless journey.  You never stop learning.” – Harvey Lloyd.

1.      Sense of mental & physical achievement

You will be forced to push your boundaries, making you realize how strong you are and have the potential to be.  On a week-long yoga retreat in Antigua, you may finally manage to hold and maintain that Half Lotus Crow or Hummingbird. On a boot camp fitness retreat in St Lucia, you may realise after your 10th press up that you are no longer finding them such an impossibility anymore.  The added bonus of a motivational group environment and personal instructors on hand will encourage you to persevere and reach inside of you for a strength you would not have ordinarily had the chance to discover in the sterile gym or too-often-pounded pavement of your everyday life.  This chance to reconnect with your inner strength will stick with you long after the challenges you faced on your break are over.  You will find that to un-cover this inner strength on a daily basis becomes something you strive for and can easily connect with, allowing you to say goodbye to the rut of repetitive lethargy which your fitness routine can easily become when it’s just one of the bullet points on your ever increasing to-do list. 

2.      You’ll develop a new passion

Be it cycling, rowing, or Tai Chi, you will likely develop a passion for an activity which you wouldn’t ordinarily have had the chance to experience.  Combined with the harmonizing climate of your surroundings, this activity will likely leave an even more favorable impression on you than if you had first tried it in your home environment.  This will infuse you with a passion for the activity or sport which drives you to commit to it when you’re back at home, combining it into your routine in any way you can.  The fact that you discovered this sport in Hawaii or Bali, for example, will automatically connect this activity with the place in which you experienced it.  As a result, your new passion provides you with a portal in which to reconnect with the freshening breeze and translucent seas of some far away destination.  The result?  You effortlessly maintain your fitness.

3.      A chance to reconnect with nature (and yourself)

Modern day lifestyles have resulted in many of us becoming confined to the fluorescently lit office cubicles and underground tubes we frequent every day.  With a full time job in the middle of the city, it becomes near impossible to maintain this connection with nature which we all intrinsically possess. Having the chance to be surrounded with nature again is a part of the healing process which is crucial to our overall health.   It detoxifies your soul of all the static build up which accumulates in a stressful working environment, naturally relieves stress, raises our spirits and reminds us how important it is to be in cadence with the environment  Just as we must cleanse the body of toxins, we must also cleanse the soul. By losing yourself in your beautiful surroundings, you realise that your physiological health is just as important as your physical health.

The chance to experience an entirely new culture and destination withdraws your mind from the everyday circles which we can become caught up in, and which oppress our spirits.  An inevitable result of experiencing a new destination is gaining a new perspective and greater appreciation for life.  When you are confined to only one tiny segment of our planet, you can easily forget that you are part of a greater whole.  A healthy holiday provides you with the chance to reconnect with your inner self and nature.  You will become more in tune with your body, and gain a new appreciation and respect for it and what it is capable of.  You will likely return home with an eased spirit, stronger limbs and a peaceful mind.  When you focus simply on your health and fitness for an extended amount of time, your exertions will reward you ten-fold when you return to your everyday life.

Yesterday I trained with my best friend Tina at Pure Gym.  I'm back down in Sussex now for the month long Easter break, so we wanted to spend some extra quality time together, which of course for health freaks like ourselves means hitting the gym together followed by a delicious healthy lunch!  We don't usually get to go to the gym together as I go to my university's gym, and tend to train on my own.  It's interesting when you train with someone else as you're always going to end up doing different moves to what you would usually do by yourself.  Personally I don't train individual muscles in one session anymore, but that's how Tina trains so it was good to experiment with a different method.

During our back workout we also did some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  I came across this routine whilst reading Women's Health magazine this month.  They featured @thebodycoach and his 'cardio shred.'  It only takes about 12 minutes to do so it's perfect for adding onto a weight training routine or before a long run.  It involved 20 seconds of work followed by a 40 second break.  The moves are twisted mountain climbers, frog legs, high knee ups, arm sprints (but we did kettlebell swings instead) and tuck burpees.  I made Tina do HIIT as she was making me do the focused muscle group training! Haha.

Top Tips for a defined back (Plus a little rant)

1) If you are trying to achieve a toned looking back, it really depends mostly on your diet and your overall body fat percentage.  Make sure you focus your diet around lean protein, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and good fats.  I aim for 120g protein per day as I weigh about 120 pounds, and you should eat one gram of protein for every pound you weigh.  If you are trying to gain lean muscle mass, you can't be in a calorie deficit and you really do have to be eating this much of the right sources.  When you don't eat enough you're just screwing up your metabolism and losing only water weight and lean muscle.  I'm definitely paying the price now for all the low-calorie diets I used to follow.  Trust me, it just isn't worth it in the long run!

2) Make sure you load up on quality protein regularly throughout the day.  I would recommend high-quality fish, chicken, eggs, quinoa and spirulina.  I like to incorporate both plant-based, vegetarian sources of protein and animal sources.  It is particularly important for us women to get enough protein as we don't produce as much testosterone as men, and it's about 74% harder for us to build muscle.  Diet is everything when it comes to what you get out of this type of training!  

3) Do HIIT (High Intensity Interview Training) 3-4 times a week.  The single most effective way to reduce body fat and reveal your hard-earned muscles is through this fat-burning method.  Nothing gets your heart rate up like HIIT, and heart rate is key when it comes to your workouts. That’s the speedometer of the body. If we speed the body up, it will burn more calories, just as a car will burn more fuel if it speeds up.  HIIT not only improves your cardiovascular health, but it also builds lean muscle in your body. It boosts your metabolism for the rest of the day instead of just whilst you're working out, like a moderate intensity run would.

4) Do lots of all over body conditioning.  For the back, focus on moves which begin in the plank position, such as dumbbell rows and push ups.  I've found these to be particularly effective as working many muscles at once instead of just one muscle group really tones your body.

5) RANT - Make sure you include all food groups in your diet - complex carbohydrates, fats and protein.  I'm sick and tired of seeing these awful fad diets everywhere which favour one macro-nutrient over the others.  You NEED a balanced amount of all food groups in order to function optimally and achieve/maintain a healthy body.  You simple cannot be healthy if you are living predominantly off of one group alone as your body won't be getting the nutrients it needs.  For example, you need good fats as without fats, your body cannot absorb the vitamins and minerals from the other food you are eating.  Please don't listen to anyone who promises you that you will miraculously achieve your dream body by cutting out one macro-nutrient entirely, such as 'experts' who favour a high carbohydrate diet, a high fat one or a high protein one.  Anything in excess is not good for you.  You can't cheat your way to a toned body by cutting out one macro as you simply won't sustain it in the long term because you're eliminating too many foods from your diet.  The same goes for either a low calorie or high calorie diet.  Balance is the key!  Achieve a balanced approach to your nutrition and then you won't need to go desperately seeking these fad diets.  The root cause of the obesity epidemic and the struggles so many people have with their bodies is these fad diets.  The worst thing is that people will believe literally anything they read online when it comes to nutrition, without knowing the source of the information, if there even if a source to this information.  Anyone can make up random facts and figures, and people will just believe them.  That's the danger of the internet not being regulated.  Do your own research, watch documentaries, read books, EDUCATE YOURSELF.  Don't just listen to what someone online tells you.  At the end of the day they're just marketing themselves!  People are constantly inventing these new weight-loss strategies in order to be unique and stand out from the crowd in the competitive market of nutrition.  So no, don't just take what I say as fact.  Research it for yourself from reliable sources. Use your common sense.  ******RANT OVER******

Sorry to end on a negative note, but I haven't blogged in a while as I have been so busy with Uni work, and I had been meaning to discuss that, particularly with summer coming up when the fad diet industry is currently booming.  At the end of the day, you just need to be sensible and do your research.  Don't do anything dramatic like eliminating tons of different foods from your diet.  Every body is unique and highly complex, and no one method of eating is going to work for every single person.  Just remember that when someone is trying to convince you to follow their method of dieting.  You have to resist the temptation to be sucked into these different diets, particularly at this time of year.


Thank you for reading!


Hanni x

There are an immense amount of fitness Apps you can download these days, all of which promise to be the perfect accompaniment to achieving your personal fitness goals.  Having tried dozens of them myself, and continuously going back to the Nike + Training Club App, I can vouch that the Nike App is by far the most effective and convenient.  With this app, there’s no need to have to waste time planning your workouts, or wondering what you should do next whilst you’re at the gym.  The app contains such diverse, fast-flowing moves that it’s impossible to get bored, literally.  I have been using the app for about 2 years now, yet I’m somehow still not bored of the workouts.  I don’t know if it’s just because I’m a fitness freak, but I find the workouts so addictive. Add to that the fact that the app contains HUNDREDS of workouts AND it’s free.  You’ve basically got yourself your own pocket-sized personal trainer.  

The workouts are all about using light weights as well as your own body weight, and targeting every muscle of your body in the process.  The general basis is to spend 1 minute on each move, and after about every 5 moves, you get a 30 second break, so you’re constantly moving.  Each move uses multiple muscles, so you’ll also get your heart rate up, and tone your body more effectively and efficiently, in the minimum amount of time.  The app also has a timer plus pictures and a video of every move, making it incredibly easy to follow along to.  As well as these total body sculpting workouts, the app also has cardio workouts and 15 minute workouts which target a specific muscle, such as the back or shoulders.  Plus, they’re always adding new ‘celebrity special’ workouts, so you can exercise alongside Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams.

I usually find I’m drenched in sweat after I’ve done either one of their 30 or 45 minute workouts.  They’re also so effective for slimming down.  I didn’t use the app over the whole summer, and switched to doing heavier weights with my boyfriend.  Since coming back to Uni this year, I’ve used the app about 4-5times a week, and have since lost 4% body fat.  My mum also started using the app a few months ago, and has lost 7% body fat since!  I think that goes to show that the app is very effective at fat-burning, due to the style of the workouts, and  probably also due to their diversity, which results in you never getting bored of it and therefore sticking with it, instead of getting demotivated with a style of working out which just isn’t interesting enough.  You can also add your friends on the app and keep up with each other’s progress, which adds a more competitive aspect to it, making it even more motivating.  Plus the app offers ‘rewards’ every time you have reached a certain amount of minutes, offering extra incentive.  What more could you want?

I have picked out my favourite moves from the app, to give you an idea of the kind of workout it offers.  You should do each move continuously one after the other, doing each for one minute.  Have a 30 second rest after every 4 moves, and then repeat the circuit again until you have completed it 3 times through.  I have included next to each move which primary muscles you are working.  I think it makes your workout seem really productive and time-efficient when you know how many muscles you’re toning all at once.

Squat with shoulder press (butt, shoulders)

Hold your dumbbells just below your chin, and squat down towards the ground, keeping your heels firmly in place and your chest up.  Then stand up again, and as you do so start moving your arms up, so that when you get to the top you press the weights above your shoulders into the shoulder press.

Modified side plank leg lift (inner thighs, butt, biceps, abs)

Leaning with your forearm on the ground and the side of one knee on the ground, raise your top leg into the air.  Switch to the other side after 30 seconds.  Some serious multitasking!

2 Feet plank side hops (core, arms)

This move is also great for cardio.  Jump both feet out to one side of your hands, and then to the other, then back again.  Repeat the hops as quickly as possible!

Jump wood chops (core, arms, legs)

Another move which doubles up as cardio.  I don’t know what it is but there’s something weirdly satisfying about this move.  Keeping your arms straight and holding the dumbbell, lower the arms and jump feet apart to squat down, driving weight down through your heels.   Then jump up again, raising the dumbbell above your head.

Burpee with 2 feet lateral hops over step (core, arms legs)

This is another cardio-based move.  Stand on one side of the step, and complete one burpee, making sure to jump as high as you can.  Then do a ‘bunny hop’ over the step, and do another burpee, before jumping back over the step.  Try to keep a continuous pace and get a good flow going – even when it gets difficult – as you will just find it harder if you keep stopping and starting.

Stability ball knee tucks (core)

Lay with your stability ball under your waist.  Walk your hands out and tuck your knees until the ball is under your shins, then roll the ball out again.  (The best part of this move is rolling onto the ball at the beginning – too fun).  This move looks extremely strange when you take a picture of it...

In honour of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014 being held this week in London (and airing next week!) I decided it was only appropriate for me to base my workout this week on the Victoria's Secret method of training.  After researching many of the Youtube 'VSX' workouts which focus on how they get ready for the runway, I picked out my favourite moves and came up with this routine!

This workout is all about those tiny movements which really help to sculpt your muscles.  Adopting similar exercises to those used by ballet dancers, boxers and also in pilates, it is mainly focused on the core, butt and arms.  The most important thing about this routine is to focus on 'feeling the burn.'  It's much harder than it looks!

I would advise a warm up of 15 minutes of cardio, either with a run on the treadmill or on the rowing machine.  Now this is how to 'earn your wings!'

Here is a link to my second article for the online women's magazine Her Campus:

http://www.hercampus.com/school/leeds/fitness-blog-train-man

This article is all about how to 'train like a man', and is inspired by my boyfriend Sami, who always teaches me new and interesting ways to workout in the gym.  He knows a lot about fitness as he does Kyokushin Karate, and recently competed in his first International competition on the Great British team.  I've learnt a lot about fitness from him, and I think he has some really great ideas which you can find in the article, as well as a previous post I wrote about him in the summer (scroll down this page to find it!)

If you're interested in following him, his instagram is @samimehio

Here are a couple of great exercises I have been doing lately on my leg days. Try adding these compound moves to your usual leg/butt routine to majorly tone every inch of your body!

So excited about the Fitness Blog I'm going to be starting for my online women's student magazine - Her Campus!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday for the article. I trained legs and butt with my friend Tina which was so much fun. We always motivate each other to lift heavier and inspire each other with new work out moves.

I also did plyo metric circuits in the morning which was great. Since coming back to Uni, I've been working out a lot, and it's really paying off as I've been getting so much stronger.

I have been doing boxing once a week with my Boxing society at Uni, and then circuits pretty much every day, using my Nike training app. I've also been training legs once or twice a week. 

Here is a link to my first article for Her Campus!  The article is all about toning your legs and butt in a circuit-style workout which really gets your heart rate going and focuses in on these specific muscles.

I also included some of my gym essentials at the end of the article! 

I hope you enjoy it! :)

http://www.hercampus.com/school/leeds/fitness-blog-get-gorgeous-legs-and-glutes-fast-30-minute-workout

This morning I did the HIIT workout on my Tone it Up Beach Babe DVD before breakfast.  I absolutely love the Tone it Up DVD's! I don't follow any other aspects of their programme, but I do really love their workouts, especially the ones on the DVDs.  They are so effective for toning you up.  I think every move in each section of the DVD has been perfectly selected in the exact right order to really make a real difference to your body.  I followed it much more religiously last summer (the picture above is actually from last summer, unfortunately I didn't have a photographer on hand this morning! haha), but this summer I've only been doing it a couple of times a week as I now have a lot more variation in my training programme.  They are challenging yet there is a lot of different moves to experiment with which you probably wouldn't have thought of doing yourself.  

The HIIT workout blasts a lot of calories.  I did the one on the original DVD this morning, which includes 4 sets of the high intensity work - this included burpees, squat jumps, and a couple of other moves I don't know the names of.  So you do 4 moves and do each move for 15 seconds, then repeat the whole thing 4 times through.  Then between each burst of intensity you do toning exercises.  I love it!

I couldn't recommend the DVD's more.  I have both DVDs which they have come out with and I will definitely be buying the next one if they come out with another and I really hope they do!

Check it out -  

http://toneitup.com/ 

This morning I did a workout with my boyfriend Sami.  We did a Navy SEAL strength routine and used a barbell for every move.   What I really like about this workout is that you use pretty much every muscle group, so you get a really great all over body-workout all in one go which I find more effective than just training the one muscle group at a time.  This is also a good workout to do first thing in the morning to boost your metabolism for the day.

Sami posts a lot of health-related things on instagram, so if you want to follow him it is @samimehio

I realised I hadn't posted on my blog for ages, and thought it was about time I updated you all on my current regime!

I'm currently training with a personal trainer at home, as I'm back from Uni for the summer at the moment. We are only training once a week with him, but I really enjoy the sessions. He's all about 'training smart', and eating mindfully but not so much so that you eliminate any foods.

I'm currently onto phase 2 of his regime. He designs each programme for his clients personally, so no ones is the same and mine is suited towards my goals. If you want to find him online if you live in the Sussex area, his company is called 3D LIFE.

My programme:

Functionality and movement phase:

60 jumping jacks

10 dumbbell shoulder presses and 5 lateral raises x3

20 barbell squats

30 oblique crunches

60 seconds punching to the front

20 plyo press ups

30 alternating jump through lunges

60 second side plank (30 each side)

60 second high knees

10 preacher curls and 10 tricep dips x 3

60 single leg calf raises (30 each side)

30 Swiss ball ab crunches

45-60 second plank

4 minute 'tabata' HIIT finisher

Squat jumps

Kneeling geckos

Mountain climbers

Double crunches