Women's Fitness April 2015

How much are you prepared to pay for fitness? According to a recent survey, the average Brit spends £500 a year on gym membership and exercise classes. But, with the explosion in fitness fashion, boutique gyms and celebrity trainers, many women are spending thousands to stay in shape. Whether it’s the latest pair of luxe leggings at £200 a pop or a post-workout smoothie for £5, the costs can quickly add up. But do you need to flash the cash to stay fit? No! While the occasional splurge can give you the perfect workout boost, we firmly believe you don’t need to spend much to stay in shape. Turn to ‘How much would you pay for this?’ (page 66), to discover the best ways to get fit on a budget.…

* STAR LETTER FROM ZERO TO HERO H&F has changed my life! A year ago I was overweight, a smoker and did zero exercise. Then my amazing Nan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and I wanted to raise money for the charity that has helped my family so much. So on a whim one day, I signed up to climb Ben Nevis for the Alzheimer’s Society. I had a lot of training to do and weight to lose, so I quit smoking and started buying H&F to help me get healthy. I followed your exercises and recipes and the weight started to drop off. By August, I had lost three stone and managed to climb Ben Nevis. I kept buying H&F and now, a year later, I love exercising so…

Who’s your favourite female athlete and why? ‘Ooh, toughie... toss up between the Williams sisters (see what I did there?!) & Jess Ennis-Hill :)’ @coolbanansblog ‘Serena Williams is the grittiest and most all round female performer ever!’ @r10ska ‘Jo Pavey is an incredible sports woman and a role model!’ - Emma Phillips ‘@LouiseHazel was amazing on The Jump on Channel 4. Seems such a likeable, witty and definitely fiesty athlete #loveit’ @RiannaJobling ‘Lindsey Vonn killed it this year! Such respect for her abilities’ - Shannon Lucy…

1 BOOST YOUR BAKING If you want to channel your inner Mary Berry, but would like to up the nutritional whack of your recipes, why not try Tombo’s Matcha for Baking (£11 for 50g; tombotea.com), which uses a unique blend of matcha tea and chlorella (an algae)? Simply add one or two spoonfuls to your recipe for supercharged treats – yum! 2 TAKE PART IN THE HAPPIEST 5K Now in its third year, the Color Run has spread its love and colour to more than 50 countries, and added Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast to this year’s UK tour venues. Along the non-timed 5k route, expect to get covered in coloured powder – and watch out for new glitter explosions too! On crossing the finish line, you can join the Finish…

Want to crank up your stamina? The solution could be as simple as working out with a happy crowd. Researchers at Bangor University and the University of Kent recently got 13 exercisers to cycle to exhaustion while a screen in front of them flashed images of either happy or sad faces. The cyclists who were shown the happy faces rode for three minutes longer than those exposed to sad faces. According to the researchers, visual information reaches the brain even when we’re not aware of it, and the negative sort could thwart our efforts. Now, where’s the happy gym?…

SWEAT BUDDIES We all know it’s hard to work out alone. Now science shows that exercising with your partner could help you stay on top of your fitness goals. According to the latest research by University College London and Cancer Research UK, men and women are more capable of making a healthy change if their partner makes the change as well, so much so that 50 per cent of smokers managed to kick the habit when their other half gave up at the same time. Scientists argue that the same goes for losing weight, eating healthily or starting an exercise routine. Time to buddy up! CELEBRITY QUOTE ‘Sometimes when I get home and I’m not feeling so great, I make myself go to the gym. Then I take a shower,…