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We all know that being overweight has knock-on health implications and belly fat in particular is linked to an increased risk of diabetes. But restrictive diets and gruelling exercise regimes will not help your body – or mind – longterm.
Enter Jenny Hutchins, founder of JNY Personal Training, who specialises in weight management that’s empowering, not punishing.
“Whether we are aware of it or not, we have all been affected by diet culture and its negative social constructs in one way or another,” Hutchins tells HuffPost UK. “That could be doing excessive amounts of cardio, taking part in the newest toxic fad diet or simply believing our body should look a certain way in order for us to feel worthy, to feel enough.”
Hutchins says that a few years ago she was trapped in a “diet culture dungeon” herself, with negative self-talk, a lack of confidence and low self-worth impacting her life. Now, she’s on a mission to help others out of those dungeons.
The Lincolnshire-based PT creates workouts that aim to leave clients feeling energised and strong. She wants to empower people to “look after their bodies and treat them with the love and respect they deserve, rather than shame them”.
The five-minute workout below is designed to leave you feeling like the best version of yourself. Repeat is regularly for the biggest boost.
5 Exercises – 2 rounds of 20 seconds on / 10 seconds rest
Dumbbell Thruster
Dumbbell Renegade Row
Dumbbell Split Squat
Dumbbell Chest Press
Dumbbell Glute Bridge
If you do not have access to dumbbells, then grab some water bottles or tins from the kitchen to complete this workout.
Dumbbell thruster
Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart, toes pointed out at a 45 degree angle and dumbbells resting on your shoulders with elbows slightly in front of shoulders.
Take a deep breath in through your nose as you descend into the squat, sitting back on your heels and ensuring that your chest is up, back is straight and knees are in line with your toes.
Breathe out through your mouth as you push through your heels and push the dumbbells above your head.
Return the dumbbells to resting on your shoulders and repeat for the full 20 seconds.
Top tip: As soon as you start pushing through your heels and coming out of your squat, push up with your arms into that shoulder press. Remember to keep it as one nice fluid movement.
Dumbbell renegade row
With a dumbbell in each hand, put yourself into a plank position with your arms straight, core engaged and feet hip width apart and on your toes.
Make sure that you’ve shifted your body forward by pushing through your toes so that your shoulders are directly above your hands.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and as you breathe out through your mouth, drive one of your elbows back, keeping your arm close to your body and squeeze your back at the top of the movement.
Slowly return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Alternating arms for the full duration of the 20 seconds of work.
Top tip: If you do not have access to dumbbells, then you can still perform this as a bodyweight movement by having your palms face down on the floor at the bottom of the movement instead of holding onto dumbbells.
Dumbbell split squat
With a dumbbell in each hand, position yourself with one foot on the edge of a stable bench or chair and the other foot out in front with toes pointing forward.
Remember to point the toes of the back foot and keep your ankle straight throughout this movement.
Keep your chest and head up and core engaged as you breathe in through your nose and descend into the squat by driving your back knee down and back towards the bench.
As you breathe out through your mouth, drive through the heel of your front foot to return to the starting position, remembering not to over-lock your knees at the top of the movement.
Perform the full 20 seconds of work on one leg in the first round and then the full 20 seconds of work on the opposite leg during the second round.
Top tip: Remember to sit back into this movement if you can, you don’t want your front knee to travel past your toes, so really focus on driving that back knee down and back towards that bench.
Dumbbell chest press
Lying on the floor with a dumbbell in each hand, position the dumbbells above your chest with your arms straight.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and lower those dumbbells towards your chest, keeping wrists and forearms upright and not allowing the dumbbells to fall in towards your body.
As you breathe out through your mouth, push the dumbbells back up to the starting position, remembering not to over-lock your elbows at the top of the movement.
Perform for the full 20 seconds of work.
Top tip: As you lower the dumbbells down towards your chest, make sure your elbows are tucked in towards your body at a 45 degree angle, this will help to protect your shoulders from any possible injuries.
Dumbbell glute bridge
Lying on the floor with your feet and knees hip width apart and a posterior tilt in your pelvis, position a dumbbell on your hips.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and as you breathe out through your mouth, push your hips up by pushing through your heels and squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement.
As you lower your hips and return to the starting position, take a deep breath in through your nose, ready to perform the next rep as soon as you’ve reached the bottom of the movement.
Remember to keep a posterior tilt in your pelvis throughout this movement, this is where the hollow of your back is in contact with the floor at the bottom of the movement, so that you are unable to get your hand underneath your back.
Perform for the full 20 seconds of work.
Top tip: To make this exercise that bit more challenging, add a resistance band to just above your knees, but remember to keep pushing out against the resistance band throughout to ensure your knees are in line with your feet and hips.
Move celebrates exercise in all its forms, with accessible features encouraging you to add movement into your day – because it’s not just good for the body, but the mind, too. We get it: workouts can be a bit of a slog, but there are ways you can move more without dreading it. Whether you love hikes, bike rides, YouTube workouts or hula hoop routines, exercise should be something to enjoy.
