THE GYM-FREE WORKOUT
If you don’t want to invest in a gym membership or you’re self-conscious about exercising in front of other people, there are plenty of things you can do at home to get started. For example, who needs the gym when you’ve got circuit training? If you haven’t heard of this before, circuit training is a body-conditioning routine, which relies on aerobics or strength building. You basically complete a lot of exercises on a “circuit” (hence the name) and it’s one of the more hard-core ways to get your body into shape. The intensity is super-high and the exercises are really tough, but because you don’t need any equipment for a lot of the drills, it’s an easy thing to do wherever you are in the world. These drills can take place in your bedroom, living room, or outside in the garden. (I’ve found it’s always nice to work out in a little rain.)
The routines I’ve listed here will make you feel hot, sweaty, maybe even sick, and the first few sessions will be the worst, but you’ll start getting fitter as you go. After a few weeks you’ll feel stronger. Set yourself realistic goals, though. If you’ve never done a push-up in your life don’t go for ten reps on your first try—you’ll blow a muscle. Instead, run through the circuit gently and see what level you’re at, and do a suitable number of reps for each. Write down your limits and use them as a motivation to push yourself forward. Try to improve the reps with every week. Also, make sure you warm up beforehand—this is always vital before any exercise activity. You can mix up thirty seconds of star jumps with thirty seconds of running, thirty seconds of butt kicks (where you run on the spot, kicking your legs up, so your heels bang against your backside), and thirty seconds of high knees (again running on the spot, but with your knees high in the air). Complete this twice and your heart rate will go up. Then stretch a few important muscle groups—hamstrings, calves, groin—to prevent injury.
OK, got your sneakers on? Then on your mark . . . get set . . . GO!
1 Burpees (10 reps if you can)
OK, to do these, you’ll need to start in a standing position. Drop to the floor in the squat position with your hands on the ground, then, in a quick movement, kick both feet back so your legs are extended out, as if you were about to do a push-up. To complete the move, return your legs to the squat position, before jumping up.
2 Tricep dips (10 reps)
These can be done on a chair, park bench, or from the end of your bed. Sit on the edge, with your palms holding the surface. Then, straightening your arms, push up and lower your rear down so it’s nearly resting on the ground—repeat this in an up-and-down motion. Slower is harder.
3 Squats (10 reps)
Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart. With your arms stretched in front of you for balance, drop down into the squatting position and then slowly push back up again. Remember to keep your back straight at all times and not to let your knees roll forward past your toes.
4 Press-ups (10 reps if you can)
Getting sweaty and super-achy? Then use your knees for support, especially if you’re struggling to complete the reps. There are also plenty of advanced techniques for the fitter ones among you. Look up Spider-Man press-ups, diamond press-ups, and one-hand-extending press-ups. These are all things to work toward, but you won’t thank me for them the next day. Your body is going to feel some serious pain!
5 Mountain climbers (30–45 seconds)
It’s like real-life mountain climbing. Stand on the spot and lift your one knee really high in a running motion. At the same time, reach for the sky with your opposite arm. Repeat on the other side. Imagine you are pulling yourself up a mountain. It’s tough!
6 Plank (30 seconds)
Get in the push-up position, but rest your weight on your elbows and forearms, keeping your elbows directly underneath your shoulders. With a straight back, push up onto your toes so your body is in a straight line. You’ll feel your abs tightening. Hold this pose for thirty seconds.
Feeling like a superhero? Then move on to the dreaded plank leg raise: take the same position, but lift your right foot off the ground and hold for a second before returning to the start position. Repeat with your left and keep alternating. Uh-oh! Here comes the burn!
7 Lunges (20 of these, please)
Ten forward-walking lunges and ten backward-walking lunges. Begin by standing with your back straight but relaxed, and point your chin up. Maintaining your balance, step forward with your right leg, then lower your hips until both knees are bent to around the ninety-degree angle. Your front knee should be directly above the ankle; don’t touch the floor with your other knee. Push up and move forward straight onto the next leg. When you’ve completed ten, slowly repeat the same process, but backward. This is the hard part!
8 Bicycle crunches (30 seconds)
Do these for thirty seconds and unleash your inner Bradley Wiggins (but, please, not your inner Lance Armstrong). Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Put your hands behind your head. Push your lower back into the floor (though a mat might be nicer) then raise your upper back, shoulders, and head up, tightening your tummy muscles as you move. At the same time, bring your right elbow and left knee together while straightening your right leg (don’t let it touch the ground), in a similar motion to pushing the pedals on a bike.
That’s just the first part! Next, bring your right knee back up. Move your left elbow and right knee toward each other while straightening your left leg; that’s just one rep—you need to do a few more, so get pedaling. It sounds complicated at first, but once you get into the swing of it you’ll soon feel the benefit.
9 Leg raises (10 reps if you can)
Lie on your back, with your arms by your side, palms down on the ground. Lift your legs—ankles and feet together—at a forty-five-degree angle. Then straighten, or raise your legs to a ninety-degree angle so they’re in line with your hips. Lower again to a forty-five-degree angle. These are great for your core, the muscles that run through the middle of your body, like your abs (or six-pack).
Try ten reps. This exercise can be made harder simply by lowering your legs at a slower rate—try descending your legs for three seconds, then raising them for three.
10 Split lunge jumps (10 reps)
These are similar to squats, but much more of a challenge. Copy the starting position, but rather than pushing forward, so you’re standing straight, push up and jump, moving your legs in a scissor motion, so you land in a reverse lunge position. Come on! You’ve got ten reps in you!
Now take a minute’s breather, and go again. Aim to do this circuit two to four times in a session, and go for it up to four days a week if you can. Be sure to have a day’s rest between sessions so your body can fully recover. You won’t believe the transformation. Well, that’s if you stick to a healthy-eating plan.
CALLING MR. ASS-KICKER
You need to do a home workout, but you’re struggling for motivation? Here’s some “can-do” activities to set you on your way. . . .
1 MAKE YOUR GOALS VISUAL
When I first started to shape my body, I found a “body role model” to give me inspiration, someone I wanted to look like. In my case, I chose the actor Zac Efron because he was lean and looked in good shape. I had a bit of a man crush on him. (Who doesn’t?) I downloaded a picture of him to my phone, though not as my actual screen saver because that would be a bit weird, and whenever I felt lethargic before a session I used his picture as inspiration. PS: these days I’ve upgraded to Ryan Reynolds. Sorry, Zac!
2 TAKE BODY-EVOLUTION PICTURES AT HOME
When I started working out, one of my goals was to look better. I didn’t like what I was seeing in the mirror, so Jermayne told me to take a body-evolution picture of myself every week. (I’ve still got them all.) That way I could watch my fitness and body evolving, and now I use these pictures to push myself. If ever I’m feeling lazy, I’ll scroll to the first ones and think, I don’t want to go back to that.
3 SET REALISTIC GOALS
So you want to look like Br
ad Pitt in Fight Club? Of course you do. But you will need an amazing personal trainer, a hard-core gym regime and diet, plus the willpower to do it. All of these things cost serious cash. If you’re at college, school, or in a full-time job, you probably won’t have the time either, so set realistic goals instead, like losing a couple of notches on the belt. Take a photo, hit that target, and then move on to the next one. You’ll quickly see progress and you’ll feel encouraged. Set an unrealistic goal (you want legs like Taylor Swift’s, say) and it’s easy to become disheartened, especially if you fail to see immediate results.
4 THE MOTIVATIONAL PLAYLIST
Everyone has a song that can inspire them, one that can push them to their physical limits. Thing is, those songs can become boring with repeated plays. I use an app called 8tracks that has playlists for every mood. Now my gym sessions are soundtracked by random high-tempo tunes. (You can pick the genre you want, too.) Even better, they sometimes drop samples from famous speeches to push you even harder. It really helps on the treadmill when you’ve got Arnie Schwarzenegger in your ear telling you to “Work hard-errrrr!”
5 SEE YOUR SUCCESSES IN ADVANCE
I played basketball for Sussex and Brighton Bears Juniors when I was younger. Our coach was into psychological training, and before games he would play clips of great professional teams, like the Chicago Bulls. He would then show us crazy documentaries on their successes. He’d tell us, “Picture in your head how you’re going to play—that pass you’re gonna make, or that shot you’re gonna hit.” It made me believe in myself. So when it comes to your training, get a boost by imagining yourself running for twenty minutes without stopping beforehand, or maxing out your reps on the weight machine. . . . Then go for it!
“It is health that is real wealth, not pieces of gold and silver.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
WHAT NOT TO DO AT THE GYM
If you do decide the gym’s the place for you (and why wouldn’t you? It’s a great place to get fit), then there are some golden rules you should live by. Because working out should be the only reason you’re there . . .
1 DON’T SHOW OFF
If you’re on the running machine for the first time in weeks, don’t set it to level twenty, “just to see what happens.” I went with Dad once and he pushed his speed up too high, lost his balance, and flew off the back of the treadmill. He ended up smacking his face on the floor. To his credit, he got back up and carried on. I would have left red-faced, never to return.
2 DON’T BIG YOURSELF UP
Why try to impress a room full of strangers by lifting loads of weights? I always see people at the chest bar, their arms collapsing under overloaded weights, body pinned to the bench, wailing for help—“Aaaaargh!” Don’t be that person. It’s not big and it’s not clever.
3 NO GYM SELFIES
OK, I admit it: I’ve done this before. But on my one and only occasion of extreme vanity, I immediately thought, What am I doing with my life? The gym is not the place to stand in front of a mirror, top off, flexing your biceps. People can see you Instagramming your chest, and it looks ridiculous. Especially if you’re waving a selfie stick around.
Posey gym selfie. Don’t get caught doing this.
4 DON’T SCREAM
Grunting I understand. Sometimes I need that extra ten percent, so a little “Grrrrr!” can push me to the finishing line. Just don’t finish your set with a Godzilla-style roar, or throw your weights to the floor with a loud crash. Do what you want to do, but don’t involve the whole gym because you’ll look like a bit of a jerk. Keep the sex noises to the bedroom.
5 NO ONE LIKES THE DRIP
I’m a sweater, but I make sure to never leave my drip on the machines. Not everyone thinks the same way, though, and it’s gross. The other day I got on an exercise bike and the handlebars were shining with sweat. The seat was drenched, too. I nearly puked. Please clean up!
6 CHATTING PEOPLE UP IN THE GYM
You’re beet-red, sweaty, and stinky. What part of that combination could possibly seem attractive to a perfectly normal member of society? Well, unless you’re both into that sweaty look . . . then by all means, knock yourself out.
HOW TO GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
OK, here are some things you probably didn’t know about sleep. One, it’s just as important to your well-being as diet or exercise. Two, people who don’t get enough rest often feel their hunger levels increasing—that’s because their leptin levels drop (the hormone that regulates appetite), and so the munchies kick in. And, three, humans are the only mammals that deliberately fight off the z’s.
But a good night’s rest is sometimes hard to come by. We’ve all been there: the evening before that important exam, driving test, or crucial work presentation. For some reason the brain just won’t quit, despite those heavy eyelids. So relax. Literally. Here are some tips to guarantee you a peaceful eight hours of recuperation. . . .
1 NATURAL NOISE IS COOL
The gentle patter of rain, the crashing of tropical waves, some chirping jungle birds—all of these things can send your brain into snooze mode. Don’t worry if you don’t live on a tropical island either. Plenty of apps are available to recreate these soothing noises. The ambient samples will also shut out any passing traffic if you play them loudly enough (or through your headphones).
2 BUT SILENCE IS EVEN BETTER
I can’t deal with noises at night, like a clock in the room or a rattling radiator. I remember staying with my YouTube friend, Tyler Oakley, in America. He had a clock that kept tick-tick-ticking all night. I tried to silence the thing, but I couldn’t find the batteries, so in the end I wrapped it up in my clothes and shoved it in a cupboard. He hated me for that, especially as the night before, I’d spilled red wine on his cream carpet. I’m not the best of houseguests, am I?
3 RELAX THE BRAIN
If you go to bed straight after a long computer or phone session, your eyes will seem tired, but a million thoughts can zip through your head at once, especially if you’ve been murdering zombies or zoning out on Candy Crush. Give yourself a tech-free hour before you hit the hay.
4 FEELING BORED WITHOUT YOUR PHONE?
Then read. Books, magazines, amazing self-help guides by YouTubers: all these things can bring calm to your mind.
5 STAY FROSTY
This might just be me, but hot rooms don’t do it for me. If the heat’s on, I’m sweating and wide-eyed-awake. I like it best when it’s a bit chilly and I can wrap myself in the comforter. Cold pillows are also key, so here’s a quick life hack: put pillowcases in your fridge during a heatwave. Take them out before you go to bed, and you’ll feel chilled, no matter what the thermometer says.
HOW TO AVOID A HAIRCUT DISASTER
You’ve got the body, now get the hairstyle. . . .
1 NEVER EVER CUT YOUR OWN HAIR
Boys and girls, it’s not a good idea. You’ll hate it, and probably end up crying. Trust me, I know from experience. I thought a great video idea would be for me and Joe Sugg to cut each other’s hair. We both booked emergency haircuts immediately afterward.
2 BE REALISTIC
I’ve occasionally had ambitious ideas, but they rarely come off. I might look at Harry Styles and think, Hmm, cool look—I’d like that. But never in a million years is it going to work on me because my hair is so different.
3 ALWAYS ASK YOUR HAIRDRESSER
People always say, “I want something different. I want a change. I want a new me.” But they rarely know what it is they actually want. Your hairdresser is the expert, so trust them. They’ll guide you through the process. That’s assuming your hairdresser has been trained.
4 PHOTOS ALWAYS HELP FOR INSPIRATION
Whenever I’ve wanted to change my hair in the past I’d often take some pictures in to my stylist and say, “I want something like this—what do you think?” If they couldn’t give me exactly what I wanted they’d always point me in the direction of a look that would suit me. Though always refer to point
two on this list.
5 DON’T BE AFRAID OF TRYING SOMETHING NEW
People are getting more cautious about their hair, especially guys. And if you’re sitting in the stylist’s chair afterward, thinking, Oh my God it’s a bit short!, why worry? If you’re going for a dramatic redesign, maybe take it slowly at first. Don’t go for the rainbow Mohawk straight off; start gradually. And remember, it will grow back (hopefully).
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