Our fitness expert Dino Bonwick shares with us five quick and easy exercises to help reduce that stubborn ‘fat around the middle’ which can happen during perimenopause and menopause
It’common to acquire weight when you go through perimenopause and menopause, especially abdominal weight or belly fat due to a change in hormone levels.
Excess weight around a woman’s midsection has also been related to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, so it is important to make some key lifestyle changes in order to help to try to counteract this.
So which exercises can we do to complement a healthy diet during the perimenopause and menopause to help address this?
We turned to the lovely Dino Bonwick, Personal Trainer to Tom Kerridge amongst others, to find out some top tips and exercises on how to reduce ‘abdominal fat’ during this important time in women’s lives.
Dino… can you give us 6 quick and easy exercise ideas that can help reduce/tone belly fat along with helping to keep our hearts healthy?
Getting – and staying – active can help to reduce fat around the middle by burning off calories as well as helping to reduce your risk of developing heart disease. It can also be a great mood booster and stress buster. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise every week such as a fast walk or a swim. One way to achieve this target is by doing 30 minutes of activity on 5 days a week.
Here are 5 quick and easy exercises I recommend that you build into your day (of course if you have a medical condition always check with your GP first).
- Push ups: Get into the plank position, with your hands under you, but slightly outside of your shoulders. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor. As you lower yourself, tuck your elbows, pulling them close to your body so that your upper arms form a 45-degree angle when your torso is in the bottom position of the move. Pause, then push back to the starting position as quickly as possible. Keep your core braced the entire time. If your hips sag at any point during the exercise, your form has been broken. When this happens, consider that your last repetition and end the set. For against the press ups, use these guidelines but your difficulty will depend on how away you stand from the wall.
- Bear crawl: Start on all fours and lift your knees so they’re at a 90-degree angle and hovering an inch off the ground. (To move in the bear crawl) Keep your back flat, your legs hip-width apart and your arms shoulder-width apart. Move one hand and the opposite foot forward an equal distance while staying low to the ground. Switch sides, moving the opposite hand and foot. Repeat the movement while alternating sides. Just holding a static bear position for an amount of time is hard enough!
- Standard plank (high plank or low): If choosing a high plank spread your fingers to make a wide, stable base. Line up your shoulders over your hands and heels over toes. Hold your body in a straight line from the top of your head down to your heels. Hold your core in tight, being careful not to let your stomach sag or your back round. On your elbows and form arms for the low plank which is harder.
- Squats: Stand with feet shoulder-width, with toes slightly turned outward. Tighten up your core to stabilize yourself, start to shift your weight back into your heels while pushing your hips behind you as you squat down. Continue to lower yourself until your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. Your feet should remain flat on the ground, and your knees should remain over your toes. Keep your spine neutral, chest out and push through the heel to return to the start position. Keep the core tight.
- Jump squats: Stand with your feet just outside shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out. Squat down with your weight in your heels, proud chest, knees tracking over toes, and a neutral spine. When you hit the bottom of your squat, squeeze your butt tight and drive hard through your legs and heels as you launch straight up, pelvis forward, pushing off your toes at the last moment of contact with the floor. Land softly, then use the momentum from landing to go right into your next squat. That’s one rep.
Thank-you so much to the fantastic Dino. We will be hearing more from Dino over the coming weeks…..
Find out more about Dino here
