90 ·^ COSMOPOLITAN3
THEY SCHEDULE
LIKE A LAWYER
Trainers take an Amal
Clooney approach to
planning workouts.
“The only ‘fitness’ app
I use is the calendar on
my phone,” says Si Tate, PT and founder
of Tate Wellness. “On Sundays I sit
down and schedule my week to the
nearest 15-minute slots. I also ensure
there’s an hour’s buffer each day, so
if anything crops up or overruns,
I don’t have to skip a workout.”
YOUR TURN: Struggling to stick to
your ‘Meeting with “Jim Mat”’? Pick
a target of how often you want to
work out, then schedule in a couple
more sessions. This gives you room
to cancel one or two if necessary,
while still achieving your goal.4
THEY HAVE A SECRET
POWER MOVE
Never even so much as
contemplated doing a
chin-up? Snap. For PTs,
though, it’s a must-do
move. “I do chin-ups
most, if not every, day. It’s a move that
works a number of muscles at once,
and I really notice an improvement *NHS.UK. WORDS JESSICA POWELL. PHOTOGRAPHS IAN MADDOX/THELICENSINGPROJECT.COM. ICONS MADE BY FREEPIK FROM FLATICON.COM. THATGIRLLONDON.COM,TATEWELLNESS.COM, DANROBERTSGROUP.COM, BODYISM.COM, HELENBOND.CO.UK, FITNESSFIRST.CO.UK, MATTROBERTS.CO.UK.1 Motivational quotes
Go hard or go home? Erm, we’d
rather just go home, thanks.
2 Protein-loading/carb-loading
Basically any ‘loading’ that isn’t pizza.
3 Saturday morning
wake-up calls at 6am.
Weekend AM is brunch time,
not crunch time.
4 Shouting, “You got this!”
We tested it on Jared in Pret when
he was making our flat white. He
didn’t appreciate it.
5 Macros
First, we had to times our weight by height,
then by exercise ratio... then we stopped
because the maths was too hard.5 things
we'll leave to PTs
1
THEY FOAM ROLL
BEFORE A WORKOUT
Yep, we’ve been
reserving it for after
training too (and as a
head rest when lazing
on the floor during
a Netflix binge). “Foam rolling before
a workout is more important than
doing it after. It releases tight trigger
points, so you’re more mobile when
exercising,” says trainer to Melanie C
Matt Roberts, who religiously rolls
before every workout. A study in The
Journal Of Strength And Conditioning
Research found that just two minutes
of foam rolling can increase your
range of motion. More motion equals
more calories burned, which equals
higher probability of fitting into
cut-off denim shorts.
YOUR TURN: Work up and down
the whole length of the target area,
then, when you find a tight spot, focus
on rolling back and forth over it with
small motions. Keep shifting position
to work from all angles. Simples.2
THEY MAX THEIR
MAGNESIUM
When the man who
hones Victoria’s Secret
models speaks, we
listen. And that man,
Dan Roberts, tells us he
takes a magnesium supplement every
day. Dietitian Helen Bond vouches
for this. “Magnesium is important for
releasing energy from food, for muscles
to contract, for nerves to function
and to maintain healthy bones.”
YOUR TURN: Wholegrains, nuts, seeds,
pulses and seafood are the best sources
(you’ll need to eat 23 almonds, one
banana, 30g raw spinach, 85g mackerel
and an avocado to meet your 270mg
a day). Falling short? Try Vitabiotics
Ultra Magnesium (£5.75 for 60 tablets).
Don’t go overboard – the NHS advises
no more than 400mg*. OD’ing will
not turn you into a Hadid overnight.in my upper-body strength and more
definition in my back and abs,” says
Emily Cole, Master PT at Virgin
Active. By practising it daily, you also
see gains really quickly – plus it’s an
impressive move to show off on the
monkey bars at your local park.
YOUR TURN: “If you’ve never
attempted one, start by using a fairly
thick resistance band to assist you,”
Cole recommends. “Loop it securely
over the bar, then rest one knee inside
the ‘sling’ it creates [holding your
other leg bent in the same position].
This will support your body weight,
making it easier to lift yourself up.
Grab the bar with an underhand grip,
arms straight, then pull your chest up
to the bar.” Get ready to feel invincible.5
THEY LOVE
TO DEADLIFT
Aversion to an exercise
that could involve you
dropping a really
heavy weight on your
toes is understandable,
but Fitness First PT Georgia Gray says
she doesn’t know a personal trainer
who doesn’t think it’s a staple of smart
training. “It’s an amazing compound
movement, hitting glutes, hamstrings,
calves, lower back, upper back,
shoulders, quads and core. Because
it uses so many muscles, it’s amazing
for fat loss.” Converted much?
YOUR TURN: “Stand feet hip width
apart, with a barbell on the floor,
centred over your feet. Bend forwards
from the hips, grip the bar overhand,
hands shoulder-width apart. Bend
your knees until your shins touch
the bar. Lift your chest, retract your
shoulder blades and straighten your
back. Focus on pushing the floor away
to stand, engaging glutes and core.
The bar should stay grazing your legs
on the way up. To lower, push the hips
back. Once the bar reaches the knees,
bend them till touchdown.” Poor
technique = high injury risk, so ask
a trainer to help before going solo. ◆