He’s the celebrity fitness guru responsible for some of the hottest bods in the business – he’s got Naomi Campbell and Amanda Holden on speed dial!

 

And now - in an X Factor-style fitness contest - personal trainer to the stars Matt Roberts is challenging the rest of us to shape up too!

That’s right, Matt is inviting aspiring slimmers to join his Get Fit Britain campaign, which is challenging the nation to improve their health and fitness - in eight weeks.

 

Like the sound of it? Then why not check out Matt’s Top 10 body-boosting tips for getting fit.

 

1. Know your core strengths. Concentrate on your lower back and abdominals during all activities. Work them at the end of your routine to ensure they are fresh and able to perform their supportive role.

 

2. Set goals. Make them clear and achievable, whether they're short- or long-term.

 

3. Break it up. Integrate interval training into your routine. The combination of high-intensity work followed by lower-intensity "recovery intervals" will train your cardiovascular system to recover faster, and work more effectively. From a fat-loss perspective, your average heart-rate profile for an interval session will be higher than for a similar length constant steady state session, and you'll shift more calories.

 

4. Drink more water. At least 1.5 litres per day. It enables the body to function more efficiently, and can aid weight loss as it helps detoxify your system. It can also help flush out retained fluids and some toxins.

 

5. Cut your caffeine. Try to replace them with herbal teas or, even better, water.

 

6. And your alcohol. Females should limit alcohol intake to 10 units per week; males, 12 units per week. Try giving up for six weeks; it helps the body to detox. Red wine is slightly better than white as it is less acidic, and is more likely to have antioxidant properties because of the tannins in red grapes.

 

7. Wheat watching. Eat only one meal per day that contains wheat products (bread and pasta). Your body can develop an intolerance for wheat, as it is eaten too often. This can cause it to produce extra toxins by way of a reaction.

 

8. It's better than nothing. A small amount of exercise, that is. Aside from lifestyle changes, such as walking up stairs or getting off the tube one stop early, three 30-minute-plus bouts of low intensity exercise will improve your health profile. Build up slowly: a good guideline is no more than a 10 per cent increase in intensity or volume per week. Exercise on consecutive days, work different body parts or systems, and have at least one day of rest a week.

 

9. Work the big bits. Focus on exercises that use large muscle groups rather than small ones as these burn more calories, such as quads, hamstrings, chest and back.

 

10. And stretch. Spend 10 minutes stretching at the end of a session, for better flexibility and posture. It will also help to prevent muscle pain after exercise, and create longer, leaner muscles.


Matt Roberts and his team will be appearing at John Lewis shops throughout the UK - between 31st Jan and the 28th Feb - performing a range of fitness tests and analysis on participants to assess their level of fitness. For more information CLICK HERE 

By Tasha Usefnia