Hello and welcome to the first week's advanced fitness assignment. Well done for committing yourself to becoming even fitter over the next eight weeks. Remember this is a flexible plan for you to incorporate into your life - you can use it as a guideline, picking up advice and taking on the parts you enjoy.

The secret to a great cardio workout is interval training. This means varying your pace. Alternating short, intense bursts of energy with a recovery period at a lower intensity will cause your body to burn more calories. This is a great way to improve your fitness level because it steps up your workout without you having to spend more time in the gym. If you have any questions or want to talk to others who are enjoying the same Challenge, visit us on the Shape Up Challenge message boards:

Monday
Complete the gym work out or the work out at home programme. To make it more challenging try holding dumbbells, or a can of baked beans in each hand when doing the squat exercises. When doing the lunges hold a bodybar behind the head and resting on the fleshy part of the shoulders. If you can get hold of some ankle weights then use these when working your inner and outer thighs.

To advance your tummy crunches, place your feet further away from your bottom. To blast that area further, take your legs up to a table top position, hips and knees at right angles and crunch in this position. To advance even further, take the arms from behind the head and extend them so the upper arms are in line with the ears.

Tuesday
Cardio training (either an aerobics/combat class, treadmill or a jogging/cycling session of about 40 minutes - with warm up and cool down either side)

Wednesday
Rest day

Thursday
Interval training:
Do 45 minutes of interval training. After warming up, repeat any of the following interval cycles (4 minutes in length) 8 times and then remember to cool down and stretch.
Running: Moderately for 3 minutes and fast for 1 minute
Cycling: 3 minutes at light to medium resistance, 1 minute and slower and heavier resistanc
On the treadmill: 3 minutes at a moderate speed, then one minute fast or at a moderate speed on an incline.
Swimming: Breaststroke for 3 minutes, crawl for one minute.

Friday
Repeat Monday's assignment

Saturday
Rest day

Sunday
Go for a brisk walk or an easy cycle ride. Don't forget to stretch everyday!

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